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Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

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Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#331

Post by slingnow »

lordnacho wrote: post #328
charstacker wrote: post #149

Consider the following scenario: You're pleased and content one minute, thinking your life is going fine the next. You have a few minutes to kill, so you log onto Facebook and begin scrolling... First, you notice a friend's post stating that she has accepted her ideal job. Then you read a coworker's too political rant. You continue browsing and see a video of your neighbour enjoying a fantastic tropical vacation. And…

Needs more explanation though. You meet your friend, he tells you about his new job, you congratulate him. You meet your coworker and chat to him about politics, and it's kinda interesting. You meet your neighbor after their trip and they show you the photos and you're fascinated. You meet your cousin in real life, you see he looks better, you compliment him. You don't feel like you need to do something yourself. Wha…

The in person conversations are much less likely to be embellished and polished to look like more than they are. The in person conversations are also a form of two-way communication, rather than something more like a person standing on the street corner shouting into a megaphone to catch the attention of anyone nearby. The human interaction makes a world of difference.

Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#332

Post by peoplefromibiza »

id wrote: post #317
peoplefromibiza wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it makes me feel... good? it doesn't in general. and that "good feeling" is mostly a lie, something we tell ourselves, because of our education, if our education was not biased by some made-up belief, we should feel nothing, not good, not bad, because we should not care about it. What other people do with their lives - in reality - has no impact on our life at all. But we were all thought to poject. Unfortunately p…

>that "good feeling" is mostly a lie I meant good as in "hey, that's great for them", not as in "I'm so happy I can't stop smiling". >because we should not care about it If people truly didn't care, they wouldn't go on social media or read the news.

> I meant good as in "hey, that's great for them"

yeah, that's part of education, it's not really what we should feel, because we don't know!

Social media are just suspension of disbelief for the masses, we are looking through the keyhole, it should be obvious that what we're looking at it's a fabrication and nothing is real.

It's like those truth-vs-reality posts about social media pictures.

It's so obvious when you think about it for a moment: we don't believe that the ice cream in the ADs is actually THAT good, why we should believe that self promotional material on social media it's any better?

https://www.demilked.com/instagram-online-picture-lies-truth...

https://www.boredpanda.com/instagram-vs-reality-truth-behind...

> If people truly didn't care, they wouldn't go on social media or read the news.

as I've said before.

They should not care, but if they don't, they're out of the game.

And it hurts to them more than feeling bad.

People have been thaught that if you're not getting any attention, you're nothing.

Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#333

Post by mwigdahl »

lordnacho wrote: post #328
charstacker wrote: post #149

Consider the following scenario: You're pleased and content one minute, thinking your life is going fine the next. You have a few minutes to kill, so you log onto Facebook and begin scrolling... First, you notice a friend's post stating that she has accepted her ideal job. Then you read a coworker's too political rant. You continue browsing and see a video of your neighbour enjoying a fantastic tropical vacation. And…

Needs more explanation though. You meet your friend, he tells you about his new job, you congratulate him. You meet your coworker and chat to him about politics, and it's kinda interesting. You meet your neighbor after their trip and they show you the photos and you're fascinated. You meet your cousin in real life, you see he looks better, you compliment him. You don't feel like you need to do something yourself. Wha…

After reading The Last Psychiatrist's _Sadly, Porn_ I'd say that it's the performative nature of social media. In the social media environment you're reading projected images -- performances designed to appeal to the infinite audience of the platform. When you interact with someone in real life, there's an authentic communication between two people. You at least have the chance to really connect, ask questions, and have a real human conversation.

Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#334

Post by Ozzie_osman »

slingnow wrote: post #331
lordnacho wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Needs more explanation though. You meet your friend, he tells you about his new job, you congratulate him. You meet your coworker and chat to him about politics, and it's kinda interesting. You meet your neighbor after their trip and they show you the photos and you're fascinated. You meet your cousin in real life, you see he looks better, you compliment him. You don't feel like you need to do something yourself. Wha…

The in person conversations are much less likely to be embellished and polished to look like more than they are. The in person conversations are also a form of two-way communication, rather than something more like a person standing on the street corner shouting into a megaphone to catch the attention of anyone nearby. The human interaction makes a world of difference.

Also the in person conversations are probably spread out. They'd typically not all happen within the span of a couple of minutes, not giving you time to process and work through each emotion.

Unless you're at a party or something, and a lot of people do find parties overwhelming.

Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#335

Post by dougmwne »

lordnacho wrote: post #328
charstacker wrote: post #149

Consider the following scenario: You're pleased and content one minute, thinking your life is going fine the next. You have a few minutes to kill, so you log onto Facebook and begin scrolling... First, you notice a friend's post stating that she has accepted her ideal job. Then you read a coworker's too political rant. You continue browsing and see a video of your neighbour enjoying a fantastic tropical vacation. And…

Needs more explanation though. You meet your friend, he tells you about his new job, you congratulate him. You meet your coworker and chat to him about politics, and it's kinda interesting. You meet your neighbor after their trip and they show you the photos and you're fascinated. You meet your cousin in real life, you see he looks better, you compliment him. You don't feel like you need to do something yourself. Wha…

There is a huge difference. When we interact in person, we are building a mutual relationship. Your friend may tell you about their new job, but may chose to adjust the tone and information to be more sensitive to the layoff you just experienced. Online, you get unidirectional bragging that needs to be as engaging and exaggerated as possible to get promoted by the algorithm. Their new job becomes the pinnacle of a lifetime of stellar achievement. If people interacted in person like they do on social media, the rest of us would avoid them like a contagious rash.

Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#336

Post by d4rkp4ttern »

simonswords82 wrote: post #301

It's been about 5 years since I made the decision to quit Twitter/Facebook. The only social media I've got to endure is LinkedIn (which is becoming more like FB by the day but that's a separate discussion). This is purely because my target market live on there, so I have no choice but to be on there but as soon as I am able I'll disconnect from that too. I cannot wait for that day. Social media platforms are of cours…

Indeed, I do think LinkedIn is the new FB. Replace FB's "happy vacation photos" with "raised $100M seed investment" and you have LinkedIn. I am constantly surprised how much time people spend posting and liking stuff on LinkedIn, makes me wonder how they get any work done.

Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#337

Post by coldtea »

id wrote: post #234
coldtea wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If other people find their ideal job, have a tropical vacation, etc. it makes me feel... good? As if regular people don't compare themselves with others and just enjoy the success of everybody, without considering if they are falling behind or not?

You can compare yourself and enjoy the success of someone else.

In limited capacity, in regular life, yes.

In social media, the constant highlights of the successes of other people makes you miserable for yourself, whether you feel happy for others too or not.

Besides an experience many can verify, it's also quite well studied, including in the linked article.

Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#338

Post by sodality2 »

ss2003 wrote: post #325
tappio wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel content with my life and I'm genuinely happy when my friends accomplish something. I can't remember when I was seriously envious last time. Sometimes, there may be a moment when I feel slight envy, but then I realize that they decided to put effort into that, and I put my effort into something else. Time is limited. Everyone has problems; ups and downs. I've mostly quit social media because the majority of act…

Hacker News is social media

It's a news forum. Only loosely does it fit in "social media". Would you call reddit.com/r/technews or alike a "social media"?

Re: Taking a break from social media makes you happier and less anxious

#340

Post by guerrilla »

RajT88 wrote: post #329
guerrilla wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's wrong with the woods?

Mosquitos. Poison ivy. If he is growing his own food - a variety of animals will be eating the veggies. Rabbits, cabbage moths (evil bastards), groundhogs, raccoons...

Cabbage moths are the worst... The other things seem pretty avoidable though...
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